KEVIN SMITH STRIKES BACK
Filmmaker declares movie critics will have to pay up to see his latest project
Kevin Smith has a long and very simple love-hate relationship with film critics.
When they love his movies — 1994’s Clerks scores 88 per cent at Rottentomatoes.com, 1997’s Chasing Amy 87 per cent — then the director returns that love.
But when they hate his work — see Cop Out or Yoga Hosers — then he tends to get, well, snippy.
Sometimes that takes the form of an online rant. After 2010’s Cop Out earned a sad 18 per cent from critics — and an audience score of just 39 per cent, it should be noted — Smith went online to complain.
“Watching them (critics) beat the s--- out of it was sad,” he wrote. “Like, it’s called #Copout; that sound like a very ambitious title to you? You REALLY wanna s--- in the mouth of a flick that so OBVIOUSLY strived for nothing more than laughs. Was it called “Schindler’s Cop Out? Writing a nasty review for #Copout is akin to bullying a ... kid.” And so on.
This led to his other reaction; not screening his movies for critics before release. That was the case with his first post-cop Out effort, Red State (2011), which nonetheless got some good reviews from critics who decided to see it after it opened. By 2014’s Tusk, reviewers were back in his good graces, but the drubbing given to 2016’s Yoga Hosers
(22 per cent) means his newest, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, will again bypass the critical crowd.
Smith recently replied to a Twitter follower who complained that he “ain’t been the same” since Clerks II in 2006. He wrote: “People tell me the quality of my flicks went to s--- when I got married and had a kid. If so, it was a fair trade. Whatever ailed me as a piss-&-vinegar 20-something was gone, replaced by joy and contentment. Great art comes from pain — so maybe happy people don’t make great art.”
That leaves both fans and critics in the uncomfortable position of hoping Smith remains just unhappy enough to craft something close to the genius of Clerks, without actively wishing him ill.
Part of the director’s 2010 tirade included the proclamation: “From now on, any flick I’m ever involved with, I conduct critics screenings thusly: you wanna see it early to review it? Fine: pay like you would if you saw it next week.”
So I reached out via Twitter this week: “Hello @Thatkevinsmith. I like Jay. I like Silent Bob. I might like your #Jayandsilentbobreboot. I might hate it. I’d love to see it early for free and let the world know. I’d even pay $12. But I’m a film critic. So, there’s that.”
So far, no reply.
Another film I wouldn’t mind reviewing is Jexi, written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.
It’s got an intriguing premise; sad sack Phil (Adam Devine) gets a new phone (voiced by Rose Byrne) and then meets a woman (Alexandra Shipp), but a love triangle ensues when the A.I. decides she wants Phil all to herself.
It sounds like a comic version of Her, Spike Jonze’s amazing 2013 film that starred Joaquin Phoenix and the voice of Scarlett Johansson, although in that one the love relationship was reciprocal, at least for a while. There was a also a much more low-tech variation in 1984’s Electric Dreams, when a desktop PC voiced by Bud Cort becomes sentient and falls in love with its owner’s neighbour (Virginia Madsen).
Jexi isn’t screening for critics either, and maybe that’s for the best. The filmmaking duo wrote the wildly popular Hangover movie in 2009, but their directing output — 21 & Over, Bad Moms, A Bad Moms Christmas — has been less well received. Misery may love company, but miserable films sometimes prefer their alone time.
Jexi opens Friday. Jay and Silent Bob Reboot screens at select cinemas Oct. 15 and 18.